Dimension beefs up AAV manufacturing

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Dive Brief:

Dimension Therapeutics, a Cambridge-based gene therapy company, recently detailed a number of improvements to its mammalian vector manufacturing platform which it hopes will increase its efficiency in producing adeno-associated virus (AAV) products.

In a presentation unveiled at the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Congress, Dimension disclosed a new technique which the company claimed halved the time needed to create new cell lines for AAV vectors.

Dimension has seven programs currently in its pipeline, including two focused on hemophilia B and hemophilia A.

Dive Insight:

Dimension, which was founded in 2013, has recently expanded its footprint, opening up a 17,000 square foot facility in Woburn, Massachusetts to help it further its IND-enabling studies.

The gene therapy company's lead hemophilia B program entered the clinic in January and data from the open-label Phase 1/2 trial is expected sometime this year.

Jefferies analyst Gena Wang, writing in a research note to investors, said the new manufacturing improvements should be "an advantage for future clinical development."

The new cell line technique, for example, is supposed to reduce the time required to generate cell lines to 3 months, from the 6 to 8 months typically seen with traditional processes, Wang said.

Another presentation disclosed a new method which can more quickly measure the therapeutic concentrations of an AAV therapeutic product.

"We are committed to developing a new standard in the manufacturing of AAV vectors, one that supports the large scale and high quality we believe is required to unlock the full potential of this field," said Annalisa Jenkins, CEO of Dimension.

At the end of the second quarter, Dimension had nearly $105 million in cash and equivalents, which it judged to be sufficient to fund operations through the first quarter of 2018.